Where Are All The SOBOS?

What’s a sobo? Southbound hikers are called sobos and northbound hikers are nobos.  Historically, about 12% of AT through-hikers are sobos, or something to the tune of 350 hikers. Sobos have a tight window for their hike – they can’t begin until conditions allow Mount Katahdin to open (June 1 this year) and usually begin by mid July in order to have enough time going south to avoid late fall or winter weather.

As a nobo, I should have passed most of these hikers already. At this time I’ve seen only 3-4 dozen.  The (horrible) rainy weather has chased all but the heartiest sobo hikers to leave the trail. Normally easy stream crossings have been impassable and regular trails are under water.

Note the reflection of the tree in the trail.

Day 85 – E. Flagstaff Rd. to Harrison’s camp (16 miles)

Day 86 – Harrison’s camp to Pleasent Pond shelter (11 miles) 

Day 87 – Pleasent Pond shelter to Horseshoe Canyon shelter (22 miles) 

Day 88 – Horseshoe Canyon shelter to Shaws Hiker Hostel 

The Feature Photo

The feature photo is another beaut from hiker NatGeo. His pictures are so good I can’t help but use them.

The Bullet List

A little different format for this post. Simply, things I’ve seen and experienced:

– Harrison’s camp is cool. It was built in the 30’s, and little has changed.  It’s run by one man, Tim, who is very friendly to hikers.

Tim serves breakfast for up to 10 hikers every morning. His pancakes have blueberries, raspberries and apples. Delicious!

– I saw a moose! It crashed through the forest, sounding like a tree coming down. Sorry, it was too fast for a photo.

– I swam at Pleasent Pond.  A local told me it’s the clearest Pond in the state. Again, no photo of the Pond, or me.

– I took the canoe across the Kennebec River. This is an AT tradition.

– The Piscataquis River had no canoe. It had to be forded, twice, in waist deep water.

– I had a leech on the back of my leg after fording a stream. Yech! No pictures, please.

– I finally ate some blueberries!  I’ve been ahead of the ripening fruit since PA.

– This lichen at higher elevations looks like snow.

– This is purple coral fungus.  After failing to take a photo, I almost thought it would be gone forever.  Fortunately, this one showed up. It’s only about an inch tall.

– Here is the largest Beaver lodge (not dam) that I’ve seen. It may not look it in the photo, but it’s 8-10 feet tall.

– And here are a bunch of hikers watching Uncle Buck at Shaw’s Hostel on a rainy day.

Hope you’re enjoying this.

Thanks for listening.